#fascinating to me how nearly witches used to quite clearly be about a broken family but it ended up a love song

[darcyolsson]

as a girl you have set your heart on haunting me forever from the start it’s never silent... as a boy i eat my wishes on golden toothpicks and digested them with wolf intestines......

[lilsherlockian1975]

Part 3 of The Potential of Pairs

Here’s the next installment of my little PotterLock. Once again, huge thanks to @darnedchild and @mrsmcrieff for their help and support. Hope everyone is enjoying it so far, it’s still rated T. @mizjoely thanks again for the prompt, this is for you, my friend! Enjoy! ~Lil~

Part 3 - The Progression of Partnerships

She started meeting up with Sherlock several times a week to study or just talk over theories. Usually, they met in the library but sometimes, if the weather permitted, they’d walk to the Black Lake and sit in the sun as they worked. Eventually, their conversations turned to more personal topics, which surprised her the most.

Soon she learned about the ‘detective business’ that Professor Snape had mentioned. It seemed that Sherlock intended to create his own profession upon graduation: Consulting Detective. Molly was fascinated.

There was so much more to him than bluster and beration. He was actually funny when his scathing wit wasn’t directed at her. One of the most surprising things she found out about him, was that he had a deep compassion for animals and magical creatures.

He talked at length about a dog he’d had while growing up. A dog. Not magical beast, but a regular canine, a mut even. What was a Pureblood doing with a Muggle pet?

She knew he wasn’t a typical Slytherin, his closest friends were Gryffindors, for Merlin’s sake. But with each passing day, Molly found out new and, unfortunately for the crush she thought she was over, wonderful things about the wizard.

One day, whilst studying near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the pair heard a distinct rustling of leaves, then footsteps. Turning to her left, Molly saw a Thestral foal edging close to the clearing where they were seated. The small thing looked frightened and lost (and also a bit terrifying).

Sherlock stood, slowly, carefully and walked toward the creature. “Can you see it, Molly?” he asked, never taking his eyes off the beast.

“Yes,” she whispered as she stood. Having been with her mother when she passed, Molly, unfortunately, could indeed see the skeletal creature.

“Amazing, isn’t he?” Sherlock said as he continued to inch forward. “Hand me a bit of ham.”

It took Molly a couple of seconds to realise what he meant, then she picked up one of the sandwiches they’d been nibbling on as they worked, pulled out the meat and slowly walked to her lab partner. “Here,” she said, handing it to him. “It’s a boy?”

He chuckled. “A male, yes.” Nearly reaching the foal, Sherlock stretched out his hand closing the distance and offering it some of the meat.

Molly held her breath, waiting to see how the creature would react. The foal lowered his head, sniffing Sherlock’s hand, then quickly took the proffered snack. Sherlock moved slightly closer and stroked its leather-like skin.

“Come here, Molly. You have to feel this,” Sherlock said.

Slowly, carefully as not to startle it, she stepped closer to them. “Will it let me?”

“Him. And yes. He’s not shy, although he should be.” He took her hand and brought it up to the foal’s nose. “Just be gentle. He doesn’t mind.”

As soon as she touched the creature's snout, Molly gasped, causing it to take a half a step back.

“Sorry,” she said, pulling away.

“No-no. It’s okay.” Sherlock offered the young Thestral another bit of ham. The creature quickly returned, taking the food and allowing the wizard to touch him. “Let’s get him back to his herd.”

“Shouldn't I go get Hagrid?” she asked.

“I know where to lead him,” Sherlock replied, then started to walk deeper into the forest.

Molly followed a bit bewildered, but impressed nevertheless. Ten minutes into their journey, she couldn’t take it any longer. “Sherlock, how do you know where to take him?”

He smirked. “Let’s see if you’ve been paying attention, shall we?”

The witch huffed. He had been teaching her about the science of deduction, but Molly just wanted a straightforward answer, not another lesson.

“Come on, Molly. Why would I have such knowledge?”

She considered it for a moment. “You haven’t taken Magical Creatures since fifth year.” Looking around nervously, she added, “Not that Hagrid has ever taken us this deep into the forest before.”

“True. But you’ve clearly been taking the class.”

“Because they added House-elves, vampires and werewolves to the curriculum and I need the course for my apprenticeship. Though I find the distinction of ‘creatures’ insulting.”

“As do I. But they did remove vampires and werewolves from the Dark Arts classes. Baby steps, Hooper. At least they actually treat them at St. Mungo's now.”

Molly nodded, agreeing with him as she continued to think. The most likely answer was that he would need the knowledge for his future career. Surely solving crimes would involve magical creatures at some point. But if that were the case, why not just take the class? Knowing Sherlock, though, he could simply research what he needed when the time came. No, it wasn’t to do with…

“Molly,” Sherlock whispered as he moved into a clearing. “Stay here and try not to move.”

That’s when she saw it: another Thestral. Only this one was lying on its side, bleeding.

“Wiggy!” Sherlock called out. A second later, a House-elf pop into the clearing.

“Wiggy is here, Master Sherlock!”

“Go get Hagrid, the half-giant. He lives in the gamekeeper's cottage. Hurry,” he instructed the Elf then it Disapparated.

“What’s wrong with it?” Molly asked as Sherlock moved closer. And where did that Elf come from?

“I don’t know. Come closer, tell me what you think.”

Molly inched towards the injured beast. When she got close enough, she saw several deep claw marks in its side; it also clearly had a broken leg. “It’s been attacked.”

“Yes, but by what?”

Just then the Elf and half-giant reappeared in the clearing.

“What’s goin’ on, Sher… Merlin’s beard! The poor thing! Not again!” Hagrid exclaimed as he knelt next to the injured Thestral.

“What do you mean, not again?” Sherlock demanded.

“There’s somethin’ out here, Sherlock. I found a unicorn colt dead not a week ago.”

“I’m assuming it’s nothing to do with you?” the wizard asked knowingly.

“No! I swear it! I’ve not been gamblin’ in months!”

“And you told the Headmistress?”

Hagrid nodded as he gently tended to the creature.

“Will she live?” Molly asked.

“If I’m quick and I have a little help.”

“Molly…” Sherlock said, looking at her pointedly.

“I don’t know anything about healing animals!”

“I can do some of it, but my magic’s not strong enough,” Hagrid explained. “Yer takin’ Poppy’s class, aren’t ya?”

“Yes, but…”

“Come on, Miss Hooper. We’re gonna fix her right up.”

Thirty exhausting minutes later the Thestral was… better. Hagrid said she would live and that he would look after her and her foal, but Molly was worried. She expressed as much to Sherlock on the way back to the castle.

“She’ll be fine, Molly. You did well,” he said with a smile.

“I didn’t realise how cold it had gotten.” She wrapped her arms around herself.

“You used quite a bit of energy, both physical and magical. Here,” he said as he removed his cloak and put it over her shoulders.

Gathering it closer, Molly took a deep breath. Gods! It smelt of him. She had been trying to stave off her crush for weeks, to no avail. It was coming back with a vengeance. “Thanks.”

“That House-elf, who was he?” she asked a few minutes later.

“Wiggy? He’s my personal Elf. Been with me since I was a boy.”

“And you can call him, even here?”

“Yes. Though I rarely do. Time was of the essence, I’m afraid. I’m sure he appreciated it. He gets so bored at the manor.”

Molly rolled the word ‘manor’ around in her head. Her family wasn’t by any means poor, but upper middle class in the Muggle world and wealthy Pure-blood wizards were about a million miles apart.

“We, Molly Hooper, have a mystery to solve,” Sherlock said, pulling her out of her thoughts.

“We?”

“Of course! You’ll make an excellent assistant!”

Molly often wondered if Snape was conducting some sort of social experiment for his own amusement with his strange match-ups. The man was brilliant, if not a bit sadistic, surely he had his reasons… right? She had heard all the tales of his exploits during the war and even if only half of them were true, the wizard must have been able to read people better than most. Why then had he paired them all off in such a manner?

Some were doing fine, of course. Sally and Philip seemed to be getting along, for the most part. Though the Hufflepuff wizard did cower from time to time under the stern glare of the witch, but their potions rarely failed. Mike and Irene, oddly enough, were getting on famously. Molly had always found her Housemate a bit shy and lacking in confidence. Since the start of term, however, he was noticeably more self-assured and had been spending an inordinate amount of time with the slutery Slytherin. Molly distantly wondered if they were brewing something other than potions in their spare time. Meena and that Dimmock bloke, who Molly barely knew, were also doing quite well. Meena mentioned that both her and Daniel’s grades had improved since they’d started working together, which was surprising. Her best friend had always disliked Potions even more than Molly.

The other three pairs, however, were having some major issues.

Jim and Mary didn’t exactly seem to be fast friends, for instance, but Mary was far too cool-natured to let the slimy Slytherin get to her. Frankly, Molly thought that the Gryffindor chaser was slowly driving Moriarty crazy with her ability to seem unaffected. He was used to getting a rise out of people. Though she wouldn’t admit it, Molly often enjoyed watching the byplay during the sometimes stressful class.

The most dangerous combination by far was John Watson and Sebastian Moran. Molly was just waiting for the day that the two would end up dueling in the middle of class. Though most of the pairings made sense, in an odd sort of way, this one was just plain scary. Moran was a loose cannon if there ever was one and John, a Gryffindor through and through, clearly had no stomach for the Slytherin’s devious ways. Professor Snape had broken up fist fights between the feuding wizards three times by the middle of November. Thankfully, no wands had been drawn… yet.

Greg usually spent most of the class period ignoring Kitty. Molly knew the Gryffindor quite well and she knew he was too much of a gentleman to tell the Hufflepuff off, but his girlfriend wasn’t. Just after the Christmas hols, Molly was witness to an entertaining confrontation between Sally and Kitty in the hallway before class.

“Oi, Kitty-Cat!” the witch called out.

Riley turned. “What do you want, Donovan?”

Sally stalked up to the ginger. “I’m going to say this slowly and use very small words so that you can follow. If you don’t get your act together and stop screwing around, I’m going to hex you purple.”

“I’m sorry?” Kitty said, planting her hands on her hips.

“You heard me. Ship up, Riley. Greg needs to do well on his N.E.W.T.s to get into the Auror programme, he can’t have you slowing him down. It may not matter to you because of your family, but it does to him. Therefore, it does to me.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Sally rolled her eyes. “What word tripped you up, Kitty? Was it programme? Or have you never heard of an Auror before?”

“I don’t think I like your tone, Sally!”

“I don’t like the amount of blush you wear, but that’s besides the point. Greg’s important to me and this class is important to him. He got saddled with you but he’s too nice mention that you’re a few centaurs shy of a herd.”

“What?”

“You’re knitting with only one needle, Kits,” Sally said with a smirk.

Kitty looked at Molly. “What the hell is she trying to say?”

“She’s saying that you eat soup with a fork, Kitty!” Molly replied, frustrated with the whole scene. Was she really so dumb that she didn’t know when she was being insulted? “That you’re not smart and it’s affecting Greg’s grade!”

A ripple of laughter lit through the corridor, causing Molly to look around. Most of the class was waiting to enter the room. She instantly felt horrible.

“Oh, Kitty…”

“I get it, Molly,” the Hufflepuff said. “You suddenly think you’re hot stuff because you’re working with Holmes. Doesn’t matter, you’re still just ugly, boring little Molly Hooper! One Potions lab won’t change that!” She stormed into the room, leaving Molly standing there, the rest of the students staring at her.

Molly was frozen in place, unsure of what had caused her to say something so mean-spirited to the witch. Suddenly she felt a hand on her back.

“Come on, Molly,” Sherlock said, guiding her into class.

“I didn’t mean…”

“I know. Don’t worry about it. That was just the outcome Snape was looking for.”

“What?”

He winked as he moved to take his seat.

More to come! Thanks for reading! ~Lil~

[jungnoir]

wips tag!

thank you @wonhopes and @seoulscapes for tagging me!! I actually don’t know if there is a limit on how many wips I can do so I’m just gonna put the ones I’m most excited for (some may not actually be listed in my wips lol)

the boy who can’t cry | one shot.

⇢ hades!jeon jungkook/reader.

⇢ supernatural, romance, dark.

↴

He was a skinny, small thing, hair black as the clothes he wore and cut bluntly above his brows. There was not a hair out of place even as the wind continued to blow all around you. His attire was odd too, not necessarily for a funeral, but rather for a little boy who barely looked a day older than you. His pants cut off at above his knees with a strange design sewn into the hem, resembling something of small dragons. His shirt was also black, done up cleanly to his neck and a loose, draping coat hung off his shoulders. None of his clothes seemed to catch light, and as his equally dark and wide eyes found yours, you gulped a little too loud. You swore he didn’t look real.

“What are you doing all the way over here, getting yourself into trouble?” He spoke like a fully grown adult, bushy eyebrow raised as if he was inspecting you.

“Uh... my grandma-” “Oh, I think I see your grandma. You two look just alike.”

You look at him oddly, the little boy gleaming and revealing a set of teeth resembling quite cutely to a bunny. It certainly didn’t match the rest of him. “She’s dead.”

He looked at you as if you’d told him the sky was blue. “Yes. I’m aware.”

“How can you see her if she’s dead? You wouldn’t know unless you could see through the ground.” You assess the strange boy once more, wondering if maybe he had a screw loose or two and that’s why you were having such a funny conversation. He certainly looked capable of it.

He laughs, the sound squeaky and childish and the only fitting thing about his age, “I don’t see her body. I see her soul. It holds her resemblance from when she died.”

You stare even harder at the strange boy. “You can’t see souls.” “I can see them as clear as day. Watch.”

Then, without warning, his free hand grabs yours and tugs you forward, turning you away from the field of misguidedly lovely flowers to the site of your family still grieving. But instead of seeing them, just simply them, you see much, much more.

1-800-bad-date. | one shot. (to elaborate about this one: reader’s job is to save people from bad dates. they call and can choose to remain anonymous or not.)

⇢ nakamoto yuta/reader.

⇢ romance, humor.

↴

It goes like this. If you love someone, let them go, and if they come back they were always meant to stay, right?

What if you hate someone and you violently, painfully, vigorously shove them away from even the very recesses of your mind the moment you graduate high school and aren’t obliged to see them five days out of the week, nine months out of the year, and suddenly they come crashing back into your life like a bowling ball and you, the unsuspecting pin? Were they meant to stay too?

You hoped not, staring with expanded eyes from your place at the front of the restaurant, an attendant with her sleek bun and tight expression turning irritated the longer you ignored her repeated question of “which party are you here to see?”. Past the two heads faced away from where you were, you could see clearly the man who had called you not twenty minutes ago, begging for an escape from the clutches of a date he hadn’t meant to be invited into.

His dark hair was styled clean and precisely, falling in smooth waves around his head and stopping just shy of the center of his earlobe, the style that many other successful business men copied but couldn’t quite pull off the way he did. His jaw was sharp and clean-shaven, nose pointed upward as he kept his head held high before the couple seated across from him at the table a stone’s throw away from you. The woman chatted animatedly to him even though he obviously wasn’t focused on her. He, who had not been listening since the moment he’d locked eyes with you, or rather, the heavy blue necklace laced around your neck, the one that “you’ll see when I arrive. don’t panic, act pleasantly surprised when I show up, and I’ll get you out before you know it.”

You had cursed his name the minute your diploma was handed to you and your high school career of attending classes alongside the jerk had ended, for God’s sake. Of all the people to save from a bad date, it had to be Nakamoto Yuta.

a moment to think | one shot. voltron!au.

⇢ coran!kim taehyung/reader. 

⇢ comfort, romance.

↴

In the small amount of time you’d gotten to know him, he had never once shown an emotion much stronger than mild dislike. He had a tendency to be a little overdramatic, but he was usually playing things up for shits and giggles, you knew that much was true.

And still, in that small amount of time, you’d never seen a tear from the alien boy fall from his eyes.

“Taehyung?” You call gently, when he still hasn’t turned around and his hands are covering the expanse of his face. His longer fingers extend from the top of his forehead down to his chin, hiding any bit of his expression from you even as you round closer to the boy, “Are you alright?”

He makes a small sound, something like a whimper- or maybe a laugh? -and nods his head, hands still firmly stuck to his face. “Very much, yes,” his voice comes out muffled behind his palms, “the… it’s the stars. It’s not unusual to cry looking at them, you know… not that I was crying!”

Standing beside Taehyung, your front turned toward his side, you can now clearly see the wet stains on his baggy white sweater, the sleeves of which cover a good majority of his hands. Surely, if you pulled his hands away, the ends of them would be wet too.

“If you’re not crying, you can look me in the eyes then, right?” You question, keeping your voice soft. Why Taehyung hadn’t thought to go somewhere private and not so close to the sleeping quarters is beyond you, but you doubt you’ll get to move him anywhere in this state.

“Ah, no can do. You see, an Altaen fresh out of sleep is a very unsightly thing. Our faces kind of morph into the facial equivalent of a gophlegorf’s behind. Very gross. I’d like to save you the trouble.” You recall the gophlegorf, one of the many galactic beasts Taehyung had elected to school you and the others on during your first few days on the ship. While the others hadn’t bothered to pay him much mind save for Yoongi, you’d been absolutely fascinated. That had been another reason he always liked you: you listened to him.

Now, if only he would realize you were willing to do that for him again, right now.

the fifth | one shot.

⇢ witch!park jinyoung/reader.

⇢ supernatural, romance.

↴

They stopped their humming and took a sip of their tea, “You reek of youth and good intentions, I could sense your aura from eight miles away. You really took your time getting here.”

The voice is smooth and not at all bothered by your presence, even as you are being held tight in a vice by their magic and your words have been stolen from your mouth before you’ve even thought to speak them. If they saw you as a threat, they sure as hell didn’t sound like it.

You open your mouth to speak again, and the person seems to mutter in surprise before you’re landing back onto your feet so hard and so fast you go tumbling to the hardwood floor, and when you mutter a curse or two under your breath, you find whatever spell was placed on you has left you completely.

“Sorry,” the apology doesn’t sound that apologetic at all, “I cursed the knocker. Anyone who touches it gets roped up like that the minute they step foot on my staircase.”

You raise your head from where you’re looking over your energy drained body, the magical chains having left more than just a touch behind, and come to find that standing before you is the witch you’d been assigned to check on, looking very nonchalant for someone whose home had technically just been broken into by a strange person out of nowhere. His profile and the interviews done on him back when he was still attending the Seoul Institute of Witchcraft didn’t do him nearly enough justice. His magic was radiating, practically cooling you with its presence as he stared down at you, waiting.

He wasn’t a giant, but he was fairly blessed with height, long legs adorned in old, dirty jeans that looked torn at the denim and a draping black tee shirt tucked into the hems of said jeans, looking far too big for just him yet attractively hanging off his shoulder and exposing his tanned collarbone underneath. His short hair was midnight black, held back by a thin, bright pink elastic headband adorned with white heart patterns that you really wanted to question, but his eyes drew you back in with the topic at hand. Who were you, and what were you doing in his home?

“So what happens to the people that just barge in?” “Struck dead on the spot,” your eyes widen considerably and you swear you see his lip quirk up, “don’t worry. I’m a green witch, and my mother was trained in the art of resurrecting. I’d bring you back to life as soon as I noticed you were of no threat to me. The knocker tends to draw in those that aren’t coming to kill me though, so usually that resurrecting thing doesn’t come into use that often.”

You stare into his dark eyes, trying to find any traces of sarcasm, but disturbingly find none, “Yeah, cool, okay. I’m already regretting this.”

encore | one shot.

⇢ fae!min yoongi/reader.

⇢ fantasy, dark.

↴

“Ah Suga, loosen up, hm? We’re just making friends.” The fairy who wasn’t holding you captive grinned, moving in closer to Jungkook’s neck, the boy wincing away at the closeness. You could feel your anger rising and you reached your free arm out to shove the fairy away in an act to protect the younger boy.

“Paws off.” You growl, and the fairy growls back with a look to kill.

Suga however, seems heavily unconcerned by the situation, his fingers laced together behind his back with a confidence that impressed you, but you still weren’t sure what exactly he was playing at at the moment. “I understand very well what you’re doing. But if I didn’t make myself clear before... release them and I’ll spare your measly lives.” 

Something dark coats Suga’s tone when he threatens them a second time, and you notice the effect instantaneously, the two Fey immediately releasing both you and Jungkook with an urgency to get away. They cower into each other and look at Suga with fear, “S-Suga, seriously-” 

The fairy behind you raises his hand and you watch with barely concealed horror when their mouths slam shut, their lips painfully melting into each other as their screams go unheard. The dancing Fey around them couldn’t care less. 

They look between each other, almost clawing at the other’s mouth in an attempt to reverse whatever Suga had done, when the powerful Fey speaks once more, “It’s only a curse. You act like you’ve never been tricked before.” The sharp line that is his mouth quirks up some into a sinister smile, leaving you both winded and fascinated.

The troublesome Fey look at Suga once more and flea through the crowd, most likely as far away as they could get from the fairy now standing beside you, looking minutely interested in Jungkook, “They haven’t done anything to you, have they?” 

Jungkook, stunned by the question or rather the one asking it, shakes his head no silently. 

Suga nods and raises his hand upward, making both of you flinch, but it is you that jumps in front of Jungkook before anything could happen, “Don’t...” You start, until you see that his hand is extended in greeting, and not to curse. 

college boyfriend!joshua | headcanons

⇢ joshua hong/reader.

⇢ fluff, romance.

you’re jittery, knowing class starts soon and you already don’t have that much time to book it to your next class at this rate, but you have to have your coffee

finally,,, you reach the front..... and....

“hi there! what can I get you this lovely afternoon?”

in the words of jeonghan again, whom the fuk-

“u-hhuhhhuuu hhh ????” 

windows has shut down unexpectedly

this beautiful specimen of a man is smiling down at you without a worry in the world, blinking softly with the longest, prettiest eyelashes you’ve ever seen on a guy

his hair is short and well kept, roots dark and colored with highlights of chestnut throughout

he’s in the uniform but that’s really only black slacks and a half apron; he’s wearing a really nice baby blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows and his collarbones are just slightly exposed with only two buttons undone at the collar- !!

this was a lot of fun omg. makes me wanna get to work (wink wonk).

I will tag: @choco-seventeen @tendershepherd @stormae and yeah i’m bad at tagging people so I think I will end it here 🙈

[movietvtechgeeks]

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/ouch-supernatural-gets-emotional-twigs-twine-tasha-barnes/

Ouch! Supernatural Gets Emotional with Twigs & Twine & Tasha Barnes

Sometimes it’s downright painful being a Supernatural fan! But I don’t mean that as a complaint—this is part of what the Show has always been. Two weeks in a row that were painful is tough to take, there’s no doubt about that, but there was a lot to appreciate in this week’s episode. Even the painful was just done so well! Grudging admiration, Steve Yockey, for the writing, Richard Speight Jr., for the directing, and all the actors for conveying the pain so brilliantly. Before I do an actual recap, here are some of the reasons for my grudging admiration. First, I love when an episode is a mirror for the Winchesters. This is a tradition going back all the way to the beginning, something Kripke liked to do and made work extremely well. Sometimes the mirror is a little too large and obvious, but in this case, I didn’t think we were too pounded over the head with it – or maybe I just enjoyed the pounding. Which sounds really wrong. Max and Alicia, the witch twins, were immediately seen by fans as a mirror of Sam and Dean in their first episode. Their closeness, the way they talked at the same time and finished each other’s sentences, the way they squabbled but clearly always had each other’s backs – all of that reminded us of the Winchester brothers. Sibling pairs often are used in the show as a mirror for the brothers, so that wasn’t a surprise. It was a surprise to see them back in another episode! A very pleasant one. Even in the limited time they had onscreen in their first appearance, they made a big (and positive) impression on fans. So yay for Show listening! There were several scenes where the parallels were made explicit, including Sam quoting Dean as he tries to convince his brother to come to the aid of Max and Alicia. The call back to the pilot made me smile, and had the intended effect on Dean too. Sam: Their mom’s on a hunting trip and hasn’t been home in a week… Dean: (in the pilot): Dad’s on a hunting trip and he hasn’t been home in a few days… I know not everyone enjoys the call backs, but I really do. I do a lot of research on fandom and the psychological impact of being a fan, and one of the things that makes us feel good is the familiarity of our favorite shows. We respond emotionally to our favorite television shows differently than we respond to any old show – they have more impact, actually creating some of the same physiological  and psychological reactions that we have when we sit down with an old friend to chat over a cup of coffee or a glass of wine. So all the small nods that reinforce our familiarity with a show increase that emotional impact. The phone call that Dean makes to his mother is also a call back, to the early episode aptly titled “Home”. In that episode, one of the first times I noticed how unique this show is and how unafraid the actors were to really “go there”, Dean calls his Dad and pleads for a call back, his eyes watering and his lip wobbling as he admits he doesn’t know what to do. I can’t watch it without my eyes watering too. In this episode, Dean doesn’t get as overtly emotional—his relationship with Mary isn’t as long standing and intense as his bond with John was—but he once again pleads for her to call him back and admits that he feels “spun out” and over his head.  I’ve had many conversations with Jensen about how the emotion in those scenes is not something he has to create, it’s something that happens organically. That’s clear by the small, unconscious tells – like a hint of Ackles’ Texas twang coming out as he tries to hold back the emotion from his voice. Those little things, and the way these actors are fearless in letting their emotionality come through, are what make this show so special and so impactful. Second and relatedly; the acting. Ackles and Padalecki knocked it out of the park with their empathy for Max and his repeated, brutal losses of his family—something the Winchesters can relate to with every ounce of their being. All three of the Banes family members were also incredible--Alvina August as Tasha, Kara Royster as Alicia, and Kendrick Sampson as Max. Alvina made us love her even in a short amount of time, which meant her children’s anguish over her death was incredibly painful. Kara showed us once again Alicia’s badass bravery but also her great love for her mother and her brother. And Kendrick Sampson nearly killed me by portraying Max’s devastation so powerfully that I could feel it in my gut. And it hurt! Sometimes I love this show so damn much even as I’m sobbing on the floor scrambling for more tissues. Not sure what that says about me. The BMoL story line ran parallel to Sam and Dean’s throughout the episode, which can sometimes give me whiplash from going back and forth. In this case, director Richard Speight Jr. and writer Steve Yockey made it seamless, and actors Samantha Smith and David Haydn-Jones made it snap with tension and intrigue. There was never a second of this episode where I felt like I had a chance to catch my breath, let alone think about making a sandwich! Smith’s slowly dawning realization of the colossal mistakes she’s made, and Jones’ portrayal of Ketch’s complicated feelings for Mary losing out to his indoctrination and psychopathology were fascinating to watch. And yes, also painful! And third, some big kudos to Richard Speight for the brilliant directing and gorgeously shot scenes, Serge Ladouceur and his team for the beautiful lighting throughout, Jerry Wanek and his team for infusing the twigs and twine theme throughout the episode (even in the wallpaper!) just so we could be even more creeped out than we already were, and the special effects wizards for making those violet eyes and all the other effects look anything but cheesy. And to Lou Bollo and his team for pulling off another epic fight scene worthy of the epic fight scenes in this show that have come before. [caption id="attachment_45848" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Photo: @sleepypanda[/caption] So yeah, I really liked this episode even if “enjoyed” wouldn’t be quite the right word. Let me walk through what happened, so I can point out more of what worked and possibly a few minor quibbles (because when does a review not have quibbles??) Unless it’s a Robbie Thompson episode. Then I plead for your indulgence. The episode begins right where we left off last episode, with the boys waking up the next day and trying to figure out what the hell happened with Cas (pretty much the way I felt after the last episode too). Dean draws a line between Castiel’s profession of faith in Lucifer’s child (and presumably his decision to knock Sam and Dean out and leave them in a playground) and the things Cas has done before with good intentions—for the right reasons, as he says. If you read my last week’s review, Dean and I were clearly on the same page. Dean: Last night, I didn’t recognize him. The boys are clearly worried about Cas. Meanwhile, Sam unwraps the broken Colt – and I actually leapt up to my feet and screamed! I was so devastated by its seeming loss last week, and so ecstatic to see that the boys haven’t given up hope on her yet. Dean: Can you fix it? Sam: I hope so. Me: PLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!!! At first I was surprised that it wasn’t Dean trying to do the fixing, since he’s the mechanical wizard who’s always taking apart the guns and putting them back together. But I assume this isn’t exactly a mechanical problem. Go, Sammy!! We’re re-introduced to Max and Alicia, and immediately the parallel is set up with Sam and Dean. They’re bickering, lovingly, as siblings do. Max: You’re being dramatic. Hah! I just talked about that same accusation being thrown at Dean by his sibling in last week’s review. Maybe it really is a sibling thing. (Actually that accusation might have been thrown at me by my brother a time or two, come to think of it…) Sam convinces Dean to help them by quoting Dean’s way of convincing Sam in the pilot, and off they go. Before he leaves, Dean makes that poignant phone call to Mary, leaving a voice mail just as Dean did for his dad in ‘Home’. The next scene of all four siblings together is awesome. Max is already one of my favorite characters, in part because Sampson pulls off both being a powerful witch and being a charismatic person. Max is also another queer character for the show, happily announcing that he got the hot bartender’s phone number. Remember the early seasons when Dean might have been uncomfortable (and we were uncomfortable with Dean’s discomfort)? Dean and Sam join Alicia in their affectionate ribbing, and then Dean wants to do some male bonding with Max over the grenade launcher. Seems like such a small thing, but I don’t think it is. I loved that scene so much, and love Sampson’s portrayal of Max. Alicia and Sam have their own bonding moments, which I got distracted by for a few moments by Jared’s glorious hair tossed by the wind. Anyway, we find out that the twins are hunting a borrower witch, which yay for Yockey keeping canon! Alicia and Sam connect over feeling like their siblings shared a special bond with their single parent. Alicia: Magic, it’s their thing. Sam: Dean and my dad had that bond with hunting. It was also interesting to have an outsider pov on Mary from Alicia, who wryly notes that Mary “doesn’t seem like much of a hugger.” I’ll say. The foursome arrive at the place they track Tasha to, which is a beautiful Vancouver house or something standing in for a bed and breakfast. This show has ruined me for idyllic bed and breakfasts in the countryside – I’d just be waiting for someone to kill me! I need to give Yockey and Speight some love for the wine scene too. And probably Ackles, for holding his wine glass in his fist so awkwardly, making it crystal clear that Dean isn’t used to drinking wine without ever saying a word. And Sam giving his brother his own glass of wine when he goes out to grab the food from the vegan restaurant. Sam: Dean, drink. (pats his brother on the knee affectionately—again one of those small nonverbal moments that say so much, and that every single person in the fandom picks up on. And appreciates) Dean: Yes. (pours Sam’s wine into his own glass happily) That was just such a Sam ‘n Dean scene—the kind I’ve been missing so badly all season. Thank you Steve Yockey! We already know at this point that Tasha isn’t really Tasha, but I have to say, that twig doll was pretty damn real! She had all of Tasha’s memories, and she certainly seemed warm and loving and wise. I liked watching her and Dean observing Max and Alicia squabbling, both of them with such fond looks on their faces. Dean is so wistful, it hurts my heart. He loves knowing that Max and Alicia had what he and Sam never did—a loving mother with them to raise them. And you just KNOW that he’s wishing that for Sam, most of all. Oh, Dean. Where are my tissues? Tasha and Dean talk about mothers too—a theme of Season 12. Tasha on moms: You think they’re perfect, then you grow up and realize they’re just people. This was one of the few times in this episode that I scratched my head. Show is really wanting us to go down that road, I guess—of saying that Mary is imperfect because of course all of us, moms or not, are imperfect. I’ve been worried about this all season, that they took us so far in the opposite direction that it’s going to be very difficult to spin us around and make us say oh well, Mary was pretty awful to her boys but hey, no one’s perfect. Why did you make it so difficult, if that’s where you wanted us to end up, Show?? I honestly don’t know if I can go where you want me to. And it’s not because I think moms have to be perfect—god knows, I’m not, just ask my kids. But this went so far away from perfect! Moms don’t have to be perfect, but they don’t have to be callous and hurtful either. We get another nice little slice of “yes these are the Winchester brothers I know and love” when Sam returns with the takeout and motions Dean to come with him. Dean: I know that look. What’s up? Nothing more Winchester than nonverbal conversation and reminding us that’s how well they know each other. Sam and Dean check out the basement where that creepy guy emerged from as they arrived (and I forgot to say how much I adored Jared’s awkward little wave—he has so much talent for doing comedy that doesn’t get used very often! I laughed out loud and had to replay that moment a few times). Nothing funny about this scene though—they find Tasha’s dead body. That’s horrible enough, but what happens next absolutely broke me. Max sees the light on and comes down the stairs. Sam and Dean (breaking my heart in pieces) try to shield Max from seeing his mother, instinctively wanting to keep him from that unbearable pain even though of course he’ll have to know. And oh my god, Max’s face when he does see her. Kendrick Sampson acted the HELL out of that scene! Max (brokenly): I… I just… He breaks down in sobs, and so do I. Sam and Dean, watching, are clearly devastated too, remembering their own traumatic losses, including their dad. Jared and Jensen were amazing in this scene too, again with all those little seemingly inconsequential nonverbal reactions that are anything but. At separate times, each of them scrubs a hand over their face, like they can’t quite decide how much emotion to let show there. Again and again, they look at Max and then turn away, like it’s physically too painful for them to watch his pain and empathize with it so thoroughly. God, that was a hard scene to watch. And absolutely masterful –from all involved. Dean and Max confront the witch, while Alicia tries to help her “mother” and Sam gets beat up by the twig doll hotel guy. The witch needs time to do some serious exposition, so she puts Dean and Max under a spell that freezes them. Dean looks distractingly pretty during this time, so I don’t mind so much that there’s a lot of exposition going on. Max, on the other hand, looks devastated—he’s forced to actually see his mother murdered. That trauma contributes, I think, to him considering taking the witch’s deal, but Dean tries to talk him out of it. Dean: No, your mom is gone. It’s awful and it sucks but… The witch silences him, though Max does hesitate. Meanwhile, for some unknown reason nobody has told Alicia that the twig doll is not actually her mother, so she’s not much help to Sam as he gets tossed around like a ragdoll and then strangled (shades of early SPN!)  She finally comes to his aid, only to be stabbed to death by the twig doll that’s not really her mother. How heartbreaking was it that when she saw her “mom” stand up, Alicia happily said “Mom!” right before she killed her. I gasped out loud when Alicia went down, truly horrified. Dean managed to break the witch’s spell long enough to shoot her with witch killing bullets, and when she dies, the other twig dolls disintegrate. Too late to save Alicia though. Sam yells for his brother, his anguished “DEAN!” ringing down the hall. And then Kendrick Sampson destroys me all over again, as Max sees that his beloved sister is dead. It was such a call back to All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2, the scene that kept me crying for literally an entire week when Sam dies in Dean’s arms. Max has such a similar reaction, rushing to his sister’s side and leaning over her sobbing. Max: Please, no, hey hey, no no no… It’s what the Winchesters say when one of them dies too –they always say “hey, hey” when trying to talk the other one out of leaving them, so when Max said the same I totally lost it. Nobody told me I’d need THAT many tissues! Sam and Dean are thinking the same thing; they look at each other pointedly as Max cries. He sends them away, and they respect his wishes and go. In the car, Sam tries to reassure his brother that he did the right thing, that he saved Max (his soul anyway). Dean: Yeah, he seemed super saved. Dean is so sad about how things went down, saying that they had a loving family, “the kind we should have had.” Dean: Sam, we do terrible things all the time to save each other, that’s what you do for family. Who am I to stop him? That’s pretty much Supernatural in a nut shell, and it’s why I love this Show. Hearing Dean say that just made me even MORE emotional. There’s a great music cue as Max does the same, putting his sister’s heart in the twig doll and bringing it to life. Alicia’s body burns as the twins leave, twig doll Alicia as mystified about what’s happened as Sam was when Dean sold his soul to bring his brother back to life at the end of Season 2. Oh, the call backs, my heart can’t take much more of this! Meanwhile, in the second story line, Ketch is torturing what at first looks like Mary but is in fact a shape shifter. Mary is watching, and her phone rings. Mary: It’s Dean. Ketch: And?? That sets up the beginning of the end for Mary and Mr. Ketch’s unlikely romance, if you can call it that. He takes every bit as much pleasure in torture as we would have expected him to, and Mary sees that side of him for the first time-the brutal side that his charming exterior has covered up. It’s telling that Mary refers to the shifter as “he” and Ketch corrects her to “it.” That’s what the BMoL – and every torturing regime ever—does in order to be as brutal as they are. They dehumanize, see anything other as “it” so they can torture with impunity and without regret. Mary is as put off by seeing this as Dean was when he was hunting vampires with Ketch. The Winchesters can be ruthless, but most of the time (if they’re not demons at the time or whatever) they don’t take pleasure in it. Afterwards, Mary is angry. Ketch, on the other hand, wants to jump into bed and work off all that adrenaline. (Ewww). Mary shuts that down pretty quickly, and Jones does a good job showing us, again with those subtle nonverbals that all these actors excel at, that Ketch is hurt by the rejection. And for someone as ruthless as him? That is not going to be a good thing. He taunts Mary that she’d better call Dean, or “he’ll think Mommy doesn’t love him”. Ouch. On the nose there. Mary finally gets Dean’s message, and leaves Dean the voicemail she should have left him way back in Episode 2 or 3, telling him that she’s sorry she hasn’t been there for him and Sam. Mary: But I want to be. I will be. I miss you boys. I love you. Me and everyone else watching: uh oh, that sounds like the sort of voicemail people leave when the show is about to kill them off. Ketch has been careful, even sending emails as though they were from Mick so Mary won’t get suspicious. But Mary is a hunter, and she’s smart, and soon enough she finds Mick’s body in a storage container and a room full of hunters’ photos and stats that make them look like the next intended targets. Ketch tries one last lie about Mick. Ketch: An accident, with a werewolf. Mary: (incredulous) A werewolf shot him in the head? Ketch: It’s not impossible… Me: actually laughing out loud. Nice dialogue, Steve Yockey! We then get one of those epic fight scenes that Supernatural is known for, thanks to Lou Bollo’s amazing stunt choreography and the willingness of the actors to always give it their all. They throw each across the room, get in punches and kicks. Ketch is still not entirely ready to give up on her, which really says something about the effect she had on him. He says he can keep her safe, if only she plays nice. Mary: I don’t play nice. I’ll say. Mary breaks his arm and brass knuckles him in the nuts, leaving him on the floor as she walks out. Nope, not that easy! Ketch tasers her and she falls flat to the floor. Meanwhile, Dean and Sam are driving away. Sam falls asleep, leaning against the window in the passenger side while Dean drives and keeps an eye on his brother, just like in all the best fanfic. Then Dean checks his voicemails. He gets to hear the one from Mary, which I’m glad about; so often in this show, the most important voicemails never get heard. Then he hears the one that tells him to call her, that they’ve got a problem. Dean to sleeping Sam: Sam, wake up, it’s mom, something’s wrong. SAM! Me: Why is Sam not waking up??? Is something wrong with Sam? (Probably not, this was just a fitting transition to the next scene, but it worried me) We end with a splash of water on a bound Mary’s face as she comes to. Ketch: (ominously) Remember Mary, I gave you a chance. And then we see the person NONE of us ever wanted to see again (but expected nevertheless). Lady Toni (with her goddamned notebook again): Now Mary, let’s begin. [caption id="attachment_45875" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Caps by @kayb625[/caption] Talk about callbacks! This episode may not have been enjoyable—in fact it was downright painful to watch at times—but it was incredibly well done. Kudos to all—writer, director, cast, crew. I’m full of trepidation as we start careening toward the finale, but that’s just Supernatural, isn’t it? For more Supernatural, check out our new book, Family Don’t End With Blood: Cast and Fans on How Supernatural Has Changed Lives, available now here! Check out next week's Supernatural 1221 There's Something About Mary.

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